Dry hopping techniques.

[PashMaddle]

I have an IPA that I intend to dry hop and I have taped the top onto my bucket fermenter with a lot of electrical tape ( because I like to seal my fermenter for whatever reason) so I don’t really want to wrassle with the 30 feet of tape I put on there and my only other option seems to be popping the airlock out and using a funnel to drop the hops in there.

Unless… someone has any better/easier suggestions?

 

[DonT]

Without taking the top off, dropping them thru the hole seems your only solution.
Next time, for like, $45 you can get a fermonster with a spigot and a cap with a large-ish hole for the airlock... big enough to dump dry hops into....

 

[PashMaddle]

Without taking the top off, dropping them thru the hole seems your only solution.
Next time, for like, $45 you can get a fermonster with a spigot and a cap with a large-ish hole for the airlock... big enough to dump dry hops into....

I’ll look into that. I have a hard time with justifying spending that much on a fv when I can drill holes in a bucket for like 20% of the price. However, this is a strong argument for investing in a fermonster (which I’ve been eyeballing for a while anyway)

 

[mac_1103]

Adding a spigot to a bucket is about the cheapest and easiest upgrade imaginable. But it sounds like you might benefit from investing in a better lid for your bucket. If you're comfortable drilling holes in the bucket you might consider drilling a larger hole in the lid for dropping dry hops through.

 

[PashMaddle]

Adding a spigot to a bucket is about the cheapest and easiest upgrade imaginable. But it sounds like you might benefit from investing in a better lid for your bucket. If you're comfortable drilling holes in the bucket you might consider drilling a larger hole in the lid for dropping dry hops through.

Good idea. Maybe I could use a (#10?)bung stopper or something and that would facilitate dry hopping rather well.

 

[mac_1103]

Maybe I could use a (#10?)bung stopper or something and that would facilitate dry hopping rather well.

That should work. But you're going to have to drill a very clean and perfectly round hole in the lid or it won't seal. Or maybe try something like this?

 

[PashMaddle]

That should work. But you're going to have to drill a very clean and perfectly round hole in the lid or it won't seal. Or maybe try something like this?

I didn’t even think about the ones with the pour spout! If the cap on the spout will seal airtight, they’d be perfect. If not, I still have a metric short ton of electrical tape.

Barring that, I have hole saws and a deburring tool…and, of course, electrical tape.

 

[mac_1103]

If not, I still have a metric short ton of electrical tape.

And a perfectly round pre-drilled hole that you just need to find the right size stopper for.

 

[Brewer Mike]

Or, do the hops in a muslin bag with magnets thing.

 

[PashMaddle]

Or, do the hops in a muslin bag with magnets thing.

This is probably my favorite idea so far. It’s simple, cheap and I don’t have to modify anything.

 

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

Get yourself a set of these. I use them for dry hopping in the muslin bag technique and they work wonders.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08PC97YHL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[redrocker652002]

I say bag all the tape and just pop the top. I have been doing it for the last 2 years and I don't think it has caused any issues. The magnet thing is cool, but if you get a high krausen you might get an issue where the hop bag comes in contact with it. I don't know if that causes any problems or not, just thought about it as I was reading the replies. The magnets are cool, you don't have to do anything more with the lid and as long as you sanitize the one that is going to hit the wort, you have a weight to keep the bag in the liquid.

 

[Chorgey]

Or, do the hops in a muslin bag with magnets thing.

What is the procedure for this? Place the clean/sanitized magnets in the clean/sanitized muslin bag and have one magnet on the outside of the fermentation vessel, holding up the bag? I imagine that once it's time to dry hop, you would simply remove the magnet which is outside the FV, so that the bag will drop into the wort.

 

[redrocker652002]

What is the procedure for this? Place the clean/sanitized magnets in the clean/sanitized muslin bag and have one magnet on the outside of the fermentation vessel, holding up the bag? I imagine that once it's time to dry hop, you would simply remove the magnet which is outside the FV, so that the bag will drop into the wort.

Exactly

 

[PashMaddle]

I say bag all the tape and just pop the top. I have been doing it for the last 2 years and I don't think it has caused any issues. The magnet thing is cool, but if you get a high krausen you might get an issue where the hop bag comes in contact with it. I don't know if that causes any problems or not, just thought about it as I was reading the replies. The magnets are cool, you don't have to do anything more with the lid and as long as you sanitize the one that is going to hit the wort, you have a weight to keep the bag in the liquid.

I think the magnet might act as a weight as well(?)

 

[redrocker652002]

I think the magnet might act as a weight as well(?)

I would think so depending on how heavy it is. I don't do the magnet thing as of yet, but might give it a go. If it isn't heavy enough, I would just add a few sterilized marbles in the bag and that should do it

 

[TalonsUpPuckDown]

I would think so depending on how heavy it is. I don't do the magnet thing as of yet, but might give it a go. If it isn't heavy enough, I would just add a few sterilized marbles in the bag and that should do it

I started out using a large, stainless steel washer and that worked well enough. These sous vide magnets are like 100x heavier. Both will easily pull the bag down and keep it in place.

 

[wdavis2003]

I've dry hopped with the magnet trick in a bucket fermenter a handful times so here's my overall experience.

1. A 6.5 g bucket fermenter and 5+ gallons of wort does not leave enough headspace to keep the dry hops away from the krausen. Hard to tell for sure without opening the fermenter and checking (which defeats the purpose).
2. First instinct is to tightly wrap the dry hops in the muslin bag as to keep the bag high enough away from the krausen during fermentation. However, the hops don't get enough exposure to the wort to dry hop effectively. I dry hopped a NEIPA once with a good amount of hops and after I racked to the fermenter and pulled the bag of hops out, I noticed the interior hops in the bag didn't get wet at all or hardly wet.
3. Best practice is to loosely bag the hops but you will need at least 2 magnets inside the bag and two on the outside. If you only do one, it will hang to low and contact the wort..

You start messing around with the magnets in the bucket fermenter it will more and likely lead to you wanting to upgrade your FV.